The present invention relates generally to integrated circuit production and in particular to increasing production yield of integrated circuit devices.
Manufacturers use a physical binning technique to segregate products coming off of a production line into distinct groupings or bins based upon the performance characteristics of the electronic devices. Higher performing devices, and thus those that can be sold for higher price, are segregated from the lower performing, and thus less expensive, devices by placing them in separate physical bins.
One physical binning technique used by manufacturers is speed binning. Some devices coming off of the manufacturing line will be capable of operating at a higher clock speed than other devices due to slight variations in manufacturing. Devices capable of running at a faster clock speed are placed in a separate physical bin from devices that run at a slower clock speed. A manufacturer can produce a complete product line from a high-end faster model to a low-end slower model by sorting electronic devices from the same production line into separate product lines based upon the performance of the devices.